PA 9.5.20 (beta) - CD image BIN files

Powerarchiver is VERY slow when working with BIN files - is this “normal”?

Opening a BIN - 736 MB (772,697,856 bytes) can take two minutes or more (empty window with “reading folder” in status line) before the contents are displayed.
Whereas, if the same BIN is converted to an ISO - PA displays the ISO contents in a “reasonable” time <= 30 seconds.

Note: This is my first time working with BIN/CUE files so it may be that this is normal. It is just that I was expecting similar response times to working with ISO files. I have tried this with three different BIN files - all same slow working in PA.

Powerarchiver is VERY slow when working with BIN files - is this “normal”?

Opening a BIN - 736 MB (772,697,856 bytes) can take two minutes or more (empty window with “reading folder” in status line) before the contents are displayed.
Whereas, if the same BIN is converted to an ISO - PA displays the ISO contents in a “reasonable” time <= 30 seconds.

Note: This is my first time working with BIN/CUE files so it may be that this is normal. It is just that I was expecting similar response times to working with ISO files. I have tried this with three different BIN files - all same slow working in PA.

PA opens up BIN files, which means it needs to extract the file first and then show the contents. Another way could be to open CUE files, which is what CD burning tools do, but then you only see track info and not actual contents.

This is why most people use cd emulators such as Virtual Daemon to open up and use BIN/CUE files.

I was just curious why this takes so long compared with an ISO file or a TAR.gz or TAR.bz2 file (which also need extracting first).

If this is a limitation of BIN “format” then OK.

P.S. I think explorer shell should still work though.

hi,

smaller bin files are ok - keep in mind that with tar, you dont have unpack whole tar file, just gz archive, then you read off tar header (like iso). With bin, i think you do. Thats why most programs dont open bin files and you never open them from cd burning software either - just cue file which is track info only.

… keep in mind that with tar, you dont have unpack whole tar file, just gz archive, then you read off tar header (like iso). With bin, i think you do…

So BIN files do not have a “header”/“contents” index, OK, I guess that is basically what I was asking. This is a format limitation and therefore the delay is understandable and not a problem.
Does the same limitation apply to IMG and NRG files or do they have a “header” like ISO?
(Just to pre-empt further “bug reports”… ).

This is the type of information I think should be addressed in the Help file (format/archive specific limitations).@spwolf:

So BIN files do not have a “header”/“contents” index, OK, I guess that is basically what I was asking. This is a format limitation and therefore the delay is understandable and not a problem.
Does the same limitation apply to IMG and NRG files or do they have a “header” like ISO?
(Just to pre-empt further “bug reports”… ).

This is the type of information I think should be addressed in the Help file (format/archive specific limitations).

Ok.

maybe. Let me check and I will get back to you. Maybe it can be done better, it seems to work nicer with smaller bin files.

@pirrbe said in Archives .pa or Backupscripts .pa conflicts with open Office files:
@spwolf it is for ‘Archive’ and also when using ‘Backup’ Script .pbs through PA dashboard
thanks for the sending all the extra info via support system, we will be checking this out soon!

The “simplest” approach would be using a DOS batch file.
Something like
FOR %%X IN (*.zip) DO PACOMP -a %%X readme.txt
Note: assumes all zip files and the readme are in same folder (and that PACL is in system PATH).

FYI: On the credits link from the “About Page” for Powerarchiver v9.20.06 is:
“For compression and decompression of BZIP2 compressed files (.bz, .bz2, .tbz, .tbz2) PowerArchiver makes use of LIBBZ2.DLL. The BZIP2 project is completely free and available to everyone. More information can be found at http://sourceware.cygnus.com/bzip2.
We wish to give thanks to everyone who helped us create PowerArchiver, and send a special thanks to the following people:
· David Cornish
–- who improved explorer shell extensions, added SFX CAB support, created the original toolbar skin, offered many suggestions, found many bugs, and provided many solutions to problems. You can get David’s wonderful SFX Maker here.”
http://sourceware.cygnus.com/bzip2 appears not to exist.
There is an underlined link “here” after “SFX Maker” that points to
http://sfxmaker.powerarchiver.com/ , which says only “serving you at the speed of light”